AN: This was originally a lazy Sunday project i started working on after seeing the tech demo for Final Fantasy VII on youtube. As you can see, it kinda blossomed out. Since even I was impressed by the work done, I decided to post it here. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Chapter One: Bombing Mission
The crack in the pipe was hardly anything to garnish the interest of anyone but the unfortunate soul who had to repair it, or just replace the whole piping system and be done with it. It was a simple hairline fracture, nothing to really attract much attention. However, the lime green mako energy flowing out was something to see to the untrained eye. The globules seemed to spark out slowly, the wisps of planetary energy floating skyward and dissipating.
"Oh, how pretty…" The flower girl said, as she clutched her chest in awe. After taking in the visual for one moment longer, the flower girl collected her basket of flowers and moved out of the alley, into the streets of Sector One.
The towering Shinra Building loomed above the compartmentalized city of Midgar, overseeing all the citizens did, as well as collecting Mako energy with their giant reactors, one in each of the eight sectors above the plate.
There had been rumours of a city the same size, possibly even bigger beneath the plate. However, those rumours said that it was filthy, dangerous and unpleasant down there.
The flower girl knew that these rumours, rumours at least to the people living their comfortable lives up here on the plate, were true, (She lived in the slums herself,) but felt that she had something to do with it. It was a nagging, irritating sensation that had plagued the back of her mind for weeks now, only peaking today.
In her dreams she had seen a young man, with spiky blonde hair, and dressed similar to someone she once knew. But that was a long time ago.
The honk of a nearby truck brought the flower girl back to reality. Posters announcing the production of LOVELESS stared down at her, as she looked up, hearing the roar of a Shinra train above.
For some odd reason, the flower girl smiled and took comfort from that particular train. She didn't know why, but she knew that train would have something to do with the closure she sought.
And so she continued on, selling her flowers to whomever would by, bracing for whatever was to come.
--
The Shinra locomotive plunged ahead into the night, onward to Mako Reactor One. This was one of the eight reactors in Midgar alone. Mako reactors existed all over the world. Fort Condor, Corel, Nibelheim, even the underwater one at the port city of Junon.
The train came screeching to a stop, where the two Shinra conductors waited to debrief the engineers.
What one of them got, however, was a nimble, muscular young lady in a red headband and matching hair leaping out and delivering a quick side kick to his solar plexus.
Respectively, when the other tried to make a break for the alarm bell, a man in a torn shirt and brown headband came out of nowhere and blocked his path. When the guard drew his service revolver, the man grabbed his gun arm and flipped him over his shoulder.
Another man leapt off the train roof, landing hard. He was a large built man, with more than a little plump to him than he would have cared to admit, but that extra weight belied the power he had within him, and the vast amounts of punishment he could take.
"OK, Biggs?" He asked.
"No problem, Wedge!" The man in the brown headband called back, delivering a kick to the conductors chest, disabling him. "Jessie?"
"Doin' fine!" The girl called back, giving a thumbs up.
"Awright, quit stallin'!" A loud voice boomed out. The three scurried up the stair leading to the reactor entrance as Barret Wallace clambered out. The Gatling gun on his right arm, replacing his missing hand was cocked, and showed a full magazine. The gunmetal contrasted with his black skin as he shouted up onto the roof of the train "C'mon, newcomer! Follow me!"
Another figure came out of the top of the train, landing with precision befitting a master. His spiky blonde hair shone in the moonlight, as he raised the large Buster sword that was nearly the size of him, all five feet and eight inches. The foot-wide blade glinted against the station light.
Cloud Strife raised the blade above his head and sent in down into a ready position by his side before running towards the staircase. Before he reached the end of the platform, two Shinra MPs ran out, taking Cloud by surprise.
"Stop right there!" One of them shouted, bringing his Oppressor submachine gun to bear.
Cloud dived low to avoid the three round burst, slicing hard with the sword The gunman fell, screaming as the sword chewed its way through him.
Following through with pulling the embedded sword out, Cloud delivered a kick to the other man's face, sending him over a guard rail and into a staircase.
Swinging around, Cloud pushed off of the gunman with his feet, launching himself into the air and landing beside a nearby door, where the other three had grouped together.
The door led to their target, the Midgar Mako reactor One.
Biggs jumped back in surprise, reaching for his pistol. Only his experience prevented him from firing on Cloud. Not that it would have made much of a difference.
Biggs let out a whistle to show how impressed he was. "You used to be on SOLDIER all right! Not every day we get someone like you here in AVALANCHE."
Jessie's ears perked up and she went for her combat rifle. "Hold it right there, Shinra Dog!" She aimed the rifle for Cloud's chest.
"Hold it, Jess!" Biggs said, grabbing at the barrel. "He used to be in SOLDIER. He quit for them and now he's with us."
Jessie nodded, and eyed Cloud suspiciously as she set to work on the door panel. "Didn't catch your name, friend." Biggs said.
"Cloud." came the response.
Biggs nodded. "Right, Cloud. I'm--"
"I don't care what your names are." Cloud said, his Mako blue gaze straight ahead, his monotone voice not betraying anything but indifference. "Once this job's over and done with, I'm outta here."
Without warning, Barret Wallace appeared beside them, his expression one of frustration and a mild blood lust.
"The hell you all doin'?" He demanded. "I thought I told ya never to move in a group!"
After nobody gave him an answer, Barret shook his head. "Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet up on the bridge in front of it."
Everyone nodded, save for Cloud. Jessie's tampering got the blast door to the plant open. Biggs and Wedge followed her in. Cloud moved to follow suit, but Barret, being the behemoth of a man that he was, blocked his ingress.
"Ex-SOLDIER, huh?" He spat, crossing his arms. "Don't trust ya." He eyed Cloud with evident disdain before moving so Cloud enter the plant. But not before Cloud got a glimpse of the sheer scale of the Mako reactor.
The plant was a hazardous maze of pipes and steam. Cloud stayed on the hells of the big man, Wedge, until the bridge rendezvous point had been reached. Barret gave the signal to move into the reactor control room, with Wedge covering their escape route, heavy rifle in hand.
The control room was dirty and oily, and looked like it had seen heavy traffic the previous working day.
"Yo!" The brown hand on Cloud's shoulder almost startled him, almost made him crack and show weakness. "This yer first time in a reactor?"
Cloud shoved the offending hand off. "No." He replied, his voice the same monotone sound he had procured when asked about his name. "I used to work for Shinra, y'know."
Barret gave a nod. That should have been enough, but he struck Cloud as the type who would go on a spiel. "The planet's fulla Mako energy. People here use it every day. It's the lifeblood of this planet, but Shinra keeps suckin' it out with these weird machines."
Cloud rolled his eyes. "I'm not here for a lecture." He said. "Let's get this over with."
"That's it!" Barret shouted, obviously irritated by Cloud's cool demeanour. "Yer comin' wid me from now on!"
As Barret's spiel finished, Biggs called up "Code's deciphered! Let's go!"
The small AVALANCE strike team went though the main door and into the facility itself. The room was dimly lit, only the security booth was lit. And inside the booth was an MP watching TV.
Jessie signalled the way was clear, and the team crouched down, avoiding contact with the window level. After passing the small window of bullet-proofed glass, Biggs called up the elevator, allowing everyone access to the lower levels of the reactor.
"Going down." Jessie said as she hit the button in the down position.
Barret harrumphed. "Little by little, the reactors drain all the life outta this planet. Then that'll be that."
"It's not my problem." cloud said, the same empty gaze in his eerie blue eyes.
"T-the planet's dyin', Cloud!" Barret sputtered. How could he be so unconcerned? He was a resident of the planet as well. The planet's problems were his problems, a responsibility shared by every living being on this planet. From the smallest cactaur to President Rudolphus Shinra himself.
But Cloud's resolve wouldn't budge. "The only thing I care about is finishing this job before security and the roboguards pick us up."
Barret looked as if he were about to say something, but the elevator opened instead. Cloud led the way out, leaving Barret alone to deliver a punch to the wall in his anger.
Biggs stood guard by the elevator, as Cloud, Barret and Jessie made their way into the reactor core. The orange glow cast by the lights gave the facility a decidedly eerie feel, as if one could actually feel what Barret described; could actually feel the reactor draining the planet of its Mako.
Cloud went ahead, down a ladder to the central control console. Barret followed him closely, after ordering Jessie to give them cover. She nodded, cocking the vicious looking combat rifle she carried.
The main panel was a large piece of equipment, reaching at least two stories high. But that kind of height was nothing compared to the cavernous pit that ended in the sickly green glow of Mako below.
The catwalk Cloud tread upon was sturdy, but critical. If even so much as one bolt went, anyone foolish enough to be treading this path would have been cast, possibly headfirst, into the Mako stream. All that would be left for burial, at most would have been a finger, thanks to the refining process of turning raw Mako into usable energy.
Cloud had learned in SOLDIER not to dwell on such things; they affected your mind, your duty and your aim.
Put it out of your mind. The man from SOLDIER said the first time Cloud met him.
Wait, that had to be me. Cloud thought. I was in SOLDIER. How could I be in two places at once, let alone be in a separate body to talk to myself? What the hell is going on?
Cloud's train of thought was interrupted by a glint just ahead of him on the catwalk. Leaning down to inspect it, Cloud revealed the slightest ghost of a smile at his discovery. This was materia, the key to the magic that SOLDIER used, orbs of every color that were absorbed by the body, yet removable just as easily.
He remembered that someone once said that all the wisdom and magic of the Ancients was attainable through materia, that forming a symbiosis with one allowed access to the orbs specific powers.
Cloud remembered that trip, just before the "incident" as the newspapers called it. The trained mind knew not to rely on that rag, Cloud knew. Shinra printed that paper and dictated what it read.
The materia called to him, speaking in hushed tones in a language cloud didn't understand. He remembered his first mission as a first-class SOLDIER, envious of how all the SOLDIERs got mastered materia, with all the abilities at the ready. He remembered dreaming of the day when he got into SOLDIER…
Wait, I was already in SOLDIER. Cloud thought. Yeah, that's right.
Barret's robust voice snapped him back to reality. "When this thing blows, there ain't gonna be much left 'cept a hunka junk!" He said grimly, looking about the valve system. "Cloud, you set the bomb."
Cloud eyed Barret suspiciously. "Shouldn't you do it?" He asked.
"Jus' do it!" Barret demanded. "I gotta make sure you don't pull nothin'"
"Fine." Cloud said. "be my guest."
As was arranged back at the AVALANCE base back in Sector 7, Cloud removed the necessary parts from a small backpack he had. After connecting the circuits, he placed the magnetic charge onto the primary Mako conduit, where the explosion would reach its peak.
A sudden ringing in his ears warned hi to what was coming.
Watch out! a voice inside his head ordered. It sounded like cloud's voice, but distorted with other voices that he recognised as also being his. The whole thing made no sense. This isn't just a reactor.
Barret seemed to pick up on Cloud hearing this voice. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Cloud looked at Barret puzzled for a moment. "Huh?" was all he could muster.
"What's the hold-up?" Barret demanded. "Get movin', Cloud!"
Cloud gave his head a shake. "Yeah," He said. "Sure…"
After flipping the timer switch, an alarm went off. The reactor's security system had detected the foreign object, and had brought out the big guns.
A giant robotic device landed on the catwalk just before cloud and Barret. It's design and armour plating gave it the appearance of a giant sand scorpion, complete with a nasty looking laser on the tip of where the stinger should be and twin Vulcan cannons flanking the headpiece.
If nothing else, Shinra's sure imaginative.Cloud thought, as he drew his sword. He remembered Scarlet, the sadistic witch of a woman behind Shinra's weapons development program mentioning this as standard guard force for all Shinra installations. If they ever got approved.
It looked like she had got her wish.
Barret began to fire his gun-arm, aiming for the lighted panels that indicated eyes, trying to blind it.
The robotic creature lunged at Cloud, who ducked and swung with his sword. The blade cleaved through the claw on the tip of it's leg, and only mildly impeded the monstrosity.
"Barret!" Cloud called, trying to fend off another claw. "Don't attack while the tail's up! It'll counter attack with it's laser!"
"Jus' keep it together!" Barret shouted. "Stand back!"
After hitting a switch on the Gatling gun, Barret's gun began to shake. A bright red ball of energy collected at the tip of the barrel, building up to a huge mass of fire. He released it at the scorpion, hitting it right on target. It faltered, evidently damaged, but got back up and fired it's twin cannons.
Barret charged at it, firing the gun as he went. Rolling underneath the guard scorpion, he fired into its underbelly, damaging its internal components.
The creature began to wobble uncontrollably, as its servos overloaded. Cloud pushed off of the catwalk railing, flipping in the air and delivering a crushing blow right into the center of the headpiece.
The tail came up, laser levelled at Cloud. He dived off towards Barret as the laser went high, damaging a section of wall.
Another blast from Barret's cannon to the back section disabled the scorpion. Cloud grabbed a hold of the railing on his landing, barely on the catwalk.
In his peripheral vision, he saw several support joints for the catwalk that had been rusted. And now, the scorpion was getting underway again.
"What now, tough guy?" Barret asked, barely serious.
"Shoot out the support joints on the other side!" Cloud shouted, not wasting any time as he ran to the door. "I've got the ones back here!"
Barret fired, his shots hitting their marks. The joints on the other side gave under his high-calibre fire, as Cloud cleaved off the rest of the joints.
Barret leapt back onto the ladder as the weight of the guard scorpion caused the catwalk to give, falling into the raw Mako.
Cloud leapt back up onto the pipes above the ladder, just before where they left Jessie on guard.
"C'mon, let's get out of here!" He called swinging back up to the upper catwalk.
"Jessie, move!" Barret said. "We're gettin' outta here!"
Jessie moved to comply, but cried out shortly after Barret disappeared up the stairwell.
Cloud turned to see her struggling. Her foot was evidently caught, and she was having trouble freeing it.
Damn! Cloud thought. The whole Shinra army was alerted to their presence, and the time bomb fixed to the reactor had less than five minutes left to go now. And here, Jessie was caught.
"Damn it all…" Cloud mumbled and darted down the pipes to help her.
"Thanks, Cloud!" She said, a smile on her face.
"Save it." Cloud said as they both ran up the stairs back to the elevator.
"What kept ya?" Biggs asked when he saw them rushing for the lift. "C'mon, let's go!"
Cloud left the subject as they reached the upper level. The entire AVALANCE crew piled out of the elevator, racing for the exit where Wedge was waiting to conduct them to safety.
The last line of defence were three Shinra MPs, ready with their Oppressors.
Jessie got off the first shot, cracking one of the blast helmets in two. Bigg's quick trigger finger brought down the last one, while Cloud leapt into the air and brought his sword down onto the MP's head.
The blade went clean through the console behind the guard, as his lifeless body slumped to the ground. His head was cleaved in two with no effort from the large sword.
Cloud didn't waste any time for showing off, as the reactor bomb went off, singing the heels of his shoes as he leapt to safety.
Up above, the explosion of the Mako reactor deafened the neighbouring Sectors 2 and 8. Debris was thrown even outside of the city limits, despite the large perimeter walls being built like a fortress.
And from his perch atop the 69th floor of the Corporate Plaza, even the Shinra President, Rudolphus Shinra took time to look out his window in shock, seeing one of the biggest and most intimidating of Shinra landmarks being destroyed.